Flu Hospitalizations Soar Among Older Adults, Report Finds

Below:

Next story in Science

This flu season has been particularly severe for older adults,
with this age group experiencing the highest rate of
hospitalizations in a decade, according to a new report from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since October, the rate of
flu hospitalizations among U.S. adults ages 65 and over has
been 258 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, the report found.
Previously, the highest rate was during the 2012 to 2013 flu
season, when there were 183 flu hospitalizations per 100,000
people ages 65 and older, the report said. Health officials
started keeping track of flu hospitalizations in 2005.

For the U.S. population as a whole, the flu hospitalization rate
this season was about 52 hospitalizations per 100,000 people,
which is higher than the rates for the past three flu seasons,
the report said. [ 6 Flu
Vaccine Myths ]

One reason the flu is more
severe this year could be the types of flu strains that are
circulating. The most common strain of flu this season is H3N2,
and health officials know that in years when this flu strain
predominates, there tend to be more hospitalizations and deaths.

But the CDC still recommends flu vaccinations, because they still
may prevent some flu infections. And people who get vaccinated
and then do get sick with the flu may have less severe symptoms —
and lower likelihood of hospitalization — than those who skip the
flu shot, the CDC said.

It is also important that people who are hospitalized with the
flu, or who get sick and are at high risk for complications from
the flu, receive prompt treatment with antiviral drugs, the CDC
said.

This flu season does not appear to be as deadly
as previous flu seasons. This flu season, the proportion of
all deaths in the United States that were attributed to pneumonia
or influenza peaked at 9.3 percent, which is lower than during
the 2012 to 2013 flu season, when the proportion reached 9.9
percent.

But this year's flu season is still not over. Health officials
say that flu season could continue for a few more weeks.